Literary Comedians

doi:10.1017/9781108617208.008

Chapter 6 - Literary Comedians

from Part II - Literary Contexts

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 December 2019

David E. E. Sloane

Edited by

John Bird

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John Bird: Affiliation:
Winthrop University

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Summary

The literary comedians were a loose group of writers from the Northeast, sometimes called “Phunny Phellows” because of their use of misspelling to drive their humor. They usually wrote under pseudonyms, which were often comic and outrageous in themselves: Petroleum V. Nasby, Orpheus C. Kerr, and Artemus Ward, among others. The mask of ignorance presented by their seeming illiteracy belied a great intelligence in the writers, often with a goal of satirical political and social comment. Although Twain did not use the central device of comic misspelling in his writing, he was greatly influenced by these writers, especially Artemus Ward, who also provided for Twain a model in his lecturing career, the mask of a seemingly uneducated speaker who actually made sharp political comment.

Keywords

Mark Twain Samuel Clemens literary comedians

Type: Chapter
Information: Mark Twain in Context , pp. 58 - 67

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108617208.008 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2020

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References

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